Preview

Personal Narrative

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
981 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Personal Narrative
Engl 111X – LeFlore
28 Sept 2011

Descriptive Essay

There are moments during the day when there is just too much noise. White noise hisses from the television in the corner. The high pitch buzz of rock music blares from earbuds implanted into the ears of someone nearby. Even the insistent clickity-clack of fingers across a computer keyboard seem to add to the flurry of traffic already flushed into my mind, via my overwhelmed ears. For me, there is one moment in my day that quiet is treasured. When I can no longer take it, I escape to a brick and mortar bookstore and treat myself to a hardback book.
When I walk in, I am always taken aback by the towering displays of tomes; the precariously perched novels appearing like high divers
…show more content…
The crisp, jacket edges fall like a neatly pleated skirt around a strong sturdy backing. Embossed letters softly raise themselves to my eyes as if to say, ‘hello’, and bid me to take them home. I spy uniformed ivory pages sandwiched between the black binding, small gaps in the spacing attempt to cry out with a silent, ‘open at me first’. My mind reels at what might be uncovered once I take it home, do I dare? The hardback emits such a yearning to me, that I cannot stop a gently quivering hand from reaching out and lifting it off the …show more content…
We pulse between the gas and brake pedals, like the jerky motion of a springy horse at a public playground. The constant rocking forward and back has started to slowly lull me to sleep, so I turn up the air, unexpectedly puffing the bag around my reward. Immediately, the vents push the scent of new paper into my face, I breathe deeply. The lingering spice of aged leather and printer ink reminds me of long hours curled up in the quiet, delighting in an author’s heady language. I slowly exhale my valued lungful of air, when I notice I am within reach of my home. My heart leaps at the memory of my hushed home; its tranquility will only add to the soothing moments I plan on spending with Mr. Cline, an escape from the hustle of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Calloway inevitably does not portray this sentimental feeling through her body language; therefore, many patrons that pass through the doors of her library will judge her to be an unusual and temperamental librarian. Mrs. Calloway’s dominate and “commanding voice” could always be heard over the “steading seething sound coming from her electric fan… turned directly on her streaming face.” Through alliteration, Welty illustrates the intensity of her villain-like impression. Welty’s depiction of Mrs. Calloway’s “dragon eye” reveals the intimidating factor felt by every child who fears unintentionally breaking one of her precious rules. However, Welty’s innocent desperation to read is evident when she bluntly states “[She] was willing. [She] would do anything to read.” After clearly describing the daunting atmosphere created by the unappealing Mrs. Calloway, she makes certain that her audience is aware that these disadvantages do nothing but propel her further in striving to…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The blur of blue caught my eye and I watch it bellow down the street relentlessly swallowing people and children, and then fading into the hazy distance. Another breed of the same species comes careening down the opposite side of the street, it’s screeching tires skid across the miserable cracks of cement, suddenly halting to a dramatic stop. The metallic fiend exhales and shudders, impatiently waiting to select the next poor soul for consumption. Its mouth opens wide with a deep sounding hiss, beckoning me forward with a breath of steamy air. The air is stale and it forces my eyes to cry. To escape I attempt to rush forward but a jolt of force sends me crashing into a fortified wall of steel. The tribute I am carrying in my left hand is instantly relinquished as a result of the crash and I scramble on the floor for a minute before retrieving it. I solemnly stare at the crumpled dollar bill I hold between my fingers for I know this spoiled hell of a machine will never accept such lowly currency!…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    America, it appears, is in the uneasy twilight of the Age of the Novel. Even the most ardent readers—and the most dedicated English teachers—acknowledge that. Given the sheer reach that visual tech- nologies have achieved in just fifty years—film, advertising, televi- sion, video games, and, supremely, the Internet—the act (and art) of reading the printed word has been gracelessly shuffled off to the mar- gins. Americans are now pixel-fed and image-fat. Novels themselves seem bulky, impractical, clumsy, ink pressed on paper fast becoming like Morse code and cathedral radios, rotary phones and print newspa- pers, quaint relics of ways we use to communicate. And serious litera- ture—those…

    • 4684 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The grey sleet drizzled onto my already damp hair as I stepped into the clinical-like office building where my day would be wasted. As I walked into the horrid building, an animated receptionist greeted me with fake pearly white teeth, hardened ice blue eyes and bleached blond hair, repeating the same line every morning, “Good morning Mr Lubin”. I felt my eyes roll in my head as I pressed the small button, making an almighty ‘beep’, summoning stained grey steel door’s to take me to where I would waste away. My desk was a mix of crumbled paper, unopened mail and old bitter coffee; surrounding the holy grail of my life, my faded pastel blue typewriter. The typewriter had cost me two weeks of pay cheques but it was worth every pound poured into…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A distressed 14-year-old sits alone in his room, searching for entertainment. Perusing his bookshelf, he finds nothing, and resorts to his video games he’s already been playing for hours on end. Books don’t catch his attention anymore; the same tiresome stories, told again and again, became dull. His energy wanes and his drive slackens; his homework remains blank. The next day at school, as he stares into space, words from the people around him fade into the background and become a faint buzz. Certain words begin to cut through the monotony: book, disgusting, hilarious, amazing. These words, which were painted with an array of expletives, drew him out into the conversation. Stating his interest, the book, John Dies at the End was handed to him; he began flipping through it, reading chapter titles and the beginnings of paragraphs. That afternoon, he immediately went to the bookstore after demanding a ride from his mother. The book cost a hefty price, but it was well worth it. Getting home, he shed the book from the plastic bag it was in and closed himself off inside his room to begin reading. Sentence after sentence, page after page, chapter after chapter. Every word engrossed him and brought him deeper into the story, the story he was beginning to live himself, becoming the characters and living their lives. In three days, the nearly 400 page book was fully absorbed into his psyche, becoming part of him; but he still desired more. Right away, he read the book again. It had him.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    But on this particular night, a humid night at that, there was absolutely no sound to be heard. Not even the squeal of a tyre edging around the street corner, or the cackle of an old man passing by. Feeling the aching in my wrists turn to a sharp pain, I peered down at the several plastic bags that I was holding; full of the essential shopping that I had gone out to get last minute for dinner. One of the bags (the one that was hurting my wrists) was clearly overfilled, but I couldn’t do anything about that, not now, in the middle of the street. Letting out a heavy sigh, I carried on walking, reaching carelessly into my pocket to clasp my phone. In the humidity, it felt lovely to have the cold, metal block against my hands. I pulled it out, feeling around in the darkness around me for the switch to turn it on with. I paused, under a spot in which the moonlight was beaming down upon on the road. Underneath the only source of light in the pitch black city, I checked my phone for any messages or calls that we important. There was nothing, apart from one message from my sister telling me to buy her some magazines. I hadn’t and since I had already come out of the shop and had begun my walk home, I wasn’t going to go back just for her sake. Feeling even hungrier as the time sped past, I decided that it would probably just be better to go home so that I could eat as quickly as possible. My stomach however, had other ideas. The loud rumble that came from deep inside it, suggested that I should eat preferably sooner rather than later. Ignoring it, I crouched down and scooped up my plastic shopping…

    • 1624 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout my life I have taken comfort in sitting down with a good book in a peaceful environment. Not a single person, email, text, or activity can pull me away from a novel that has completely captivated me or possibly saved me from a gloomy day. In my eyes books are something that should never go out of style. It doesn’t matter if they’re fresh off the shelf or are yellowing and aging by the turn of each page. Along with the story-the weighted, tangible, and rectangular object is what completes the ideal reading experience! Although, as the world’s technology sky rockets new forms of “a book” is being produced. Out of convenience and the need for the next expensive thing, gadgets like Kindles, E-Books, and i-Pads are stealing the sacredness of a paperback or hardback novel. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and individual likings but I personally could never bring myself to turn the…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Monologue Of Slavery

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Without any hesitation, I shoved the rusty shovel between the hinges of the door and began to force it open. Luckily for me, the wood was already worn out which made it easy to pry open. The shovel clanked next to my stinging feet as I watched the door creak open, slowly revealing a tidy bedroom. My stomach churned with a sick feeling as I compared the factory’s harsh environment to this small, clean room that only a few could enter. Sneakily, I tiptoed to the organized shelf and obtained my dictionary. It was the one thing I would not escape…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    That "Old Book Smell"

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The book has been boxed up and stacked under piles of newspaper and junk for what seems like decades. Its corners are pealed and the edges have been sequentially been curved inward. It has evidently gathered dust and there are endless dust bunnies surrounding this pyramid of senile possessions. I opened the book to check if the inside looks as abandoned as the cover, it does not in fact, it looks as if it has never been opened before. And the smell has changed a bit.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is a fact to state that books are the richest recorded treasure on earth and the output of the best minds of all ages. But, though more books are available today than before, the art and joy of book reading is known to only a few, that for every person who might use ten or a dozen good books a year, there are hundreds who never even had opened one single book covers for once.…

    • 4058 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever stood in a library and asked yourself where to look for an interesting book? Have you looked everywhere but could not find anything? This the same action which occurs to me every-time I am in a library. But when I found this book it was completely different: I read the back and was fascinated to the spot. This book I am talking about is “Confessions of a Shopaholic”. To summarize the book it is acting about a woman who talks about her life and this is quite chaotic.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In this discussion, information will be provided to gain understanding of why it is important not to judge individuals just by their appearance. It will provide information on the reasons why an individual may choose to live in alternate lifestyles. It will also provide information on what motives an individual needs to provide justification for murdering another person. Lastly, information will be provided on the true identity of an individual who chooses to become a murderer.…

    • 1941 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Meeting Scene Assignment

    • 2716 Words
    • 11 Pages

    I shrugged it off and continued to be perched on my stool, skimming my eyes over every page of the book I was reading. The afternoon sunlight bleached all of the books on shelves to pale, gilded versions of themselves and warmed the paper and ink inside the covers so that the smell of unread words hung in the air. Dim, drafty and almost abandoned-feeling, every sudden noise seemed to carry itself, echoing off the sloping wooden beams. The thick doors with stained glass reflected against the dark floorboards, numerous colors swirling and overlapping each other as if paints had been spewed onto the ground.…

    • 2716 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Striphas, Theodore G. The Late Age of Print: Everyday Book Culture from Consumerism to Control. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. Print.…

    • 1488 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were books and magazines piled up in the window of a stall a few paces down the street. Mrs. Sommers bought two high-priced magazines such as she had been accustomed to read in the days when she had been accustomed to other pleasant things. She carried them without wrapping. As well as she could she lifted her skirts at the crossings. Her stockings and boots and well fitting gloves had worked marvels in her bearing--had given her a feeling of assurance, a sense of belonging to the well-dressed multitude.…

    • 1883 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics